noveldepot Chapter 32: The Greatest Rival, Li Yifeng
Chapter 32: The Greatest Rival, Li Yifeng
Guan Shengbai's last scene in the "Police Story" crew was filmed without any excitement.
There was no sentimental farewell, no reluctant hugs from the crew, and even after the assistant director yelled "Cut!", he simply nodded at him and turned to direct the extras for the next scene.
Guan Shengbai was not surprised by this.
He played a minor supporting role in "Police Story," appearing in only a dozen or so scenes. It would be considered good if he got three to five minutes of screen time in the final cut.
For actors of this caliber, once filming wraps up, that's it; the production team isn't going to throw a big wrap party for them.
He quietly went to the dressing room to remove his makeup, folded his costume and handed it to the costume team, and then gave a brief greeting to Jackie Chan, Liu Ye, Jin Tian and Gulnazar who were still busy on set.
Uncle Long patted him on the shoulder and said, "Young man, keep it up."
Liu Ye shook hands with him and said, "See you in 'No War in Beiping'."
Jin Tian smiled and told him to keep in touch when he had time.
Only Nazha stood next to Jin Tian, hesitated for a long time, and finally just moved her lips and said, "Take care, senior brother."
Guan Shengbai nodded in agreement, then picked up his worn-out travel bag and walked out of the film set.
No one saw him off, and no one paid him any special attention.
To put it bluntly, given Guan Shengbai's "status," this situation is to be expected.
The kind of treatment one would receive in "Tiny Times" is actually quite rare.
With that in mind, Guan Shengbai hailed a taxi and headed straight for his home.
Yes, Guan Shengbai actually has a place to stay in Beijing.
As the car turned into the gate of Jinmao Mansion, the security guard at the gate glanced at the taxi several times, probably trying to determine whether it was a visitor or a resident.
Guan Shengbai rolled down the car window and gave the address. The security guard checked the owner's name in the system and then let him go.
This house was left by the original owner's parents.
When the elderly couple were alive, they were considered a well-off family in Beijing, which enabled them to purchase property in a development like Jinmao Mansion during this period.
Unfortunately, a car accident changed everything.
Guan Shengbai took out his access card and swiped it, and the automatic door to the lobby slowly slid open.
He took the elevator upstairs, stood in front of his own door, took out his key, inserted it into the lock, and turned it twice. The lock made a dull click.
The door opened.
A sense of isolation, as if the place had been uninhabited for a long time, wafted over, mixed with the faint smell of dust and old furniture and wood.
The living room curtains were drawn tightly shut, and only a few pale rays of afternoon sunlight could squeeze in through the gaps.
Sunlight shines on the fine dust suspended in the air, making it look like countless tiny plankton drifting slowly.
The sofa was covered with a dust cloth, the coffee table was covered with a layer of visible dust, and the green plant next to the TV cabinet had long since withered into a clump of brown hay.
Guan Shengbai stood in the entryway, his gaze sweeping from the living room to the dining room, and then from the dining room to the two tightly closed bedroom doors at the end of the corridor.
The person I was born lived in this house for more than ten years, from elementary school to university, from a spirited teenager to a young adult who experienced tremendous changes.
Several traces of award certificates that were once pasted on the wall and then torn off remain. A yellowed family photo is held down by a magnet on the refrigerator door, in which a middle-aged couple smiles gently.
He walked to the refrigerator, reached out and took down the family photo, wiped the dust off with his sleeve, and placed it on the table.
Then Guan Shengbai took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and began cleaning in a flurry of activity.
He first wiped all the furniture surfaces with a rag, then swept and mopped the floor, cleaning away the dust that had accumulated for more than half a year.
His movements weren't fast, but they were solid; you could tell he had experience.
In his previous life, Guan Shengbai worked his way up in the public relations industry, sometimes working non-stop for days and nights without sleep during his busiest periods.
When I have free time, I prefer to do some physical work quietly by myself.
For him, cleaning is actually a form of relaxation.
By the time he finished, he was covered in sweat, but the room was completely refreshed.
Finally, the curtains were drawn back, and the afternoon sunlight streamed in unobstructed, making the wooden floor shine.
A sense of satisfaction welled up inside me.
Finally, Guan Shengbai put the cleaning tools away one by one, stripped naked, and went into the bathroom for a refreshing shower.
A hot shower washed away the dust and fatigue, as well as the dull, old-fashioned atmosphere he had felt in the apartment.
When he dried his hair and came out of the bathroom, the clock on the wall was pointing to two o'clock in the afternoon.
Guan Shengbai calculated the time.
He still needs to go to the headquarters of H&R Century Pictures today to see Zeng Jia and discuss the upcoming arrangements.
Yang Mi mentioned to him during a previous visit to the set that the company might be planning something big, and advised him not to rush into taking on other projects.
Guan Shengbai had a general idea of the big move Yang Mi had mentioned.
He changed into clean clothes, grabbed his phone and wallet, and went out.
In January in Beijing, the sun is already starting to set at 2 PM.
The sunlight was still bright, but it wasn't very warm.
Guan Shengbai stood by the roadside at the entrance of the residential area, took out his mobile phone to call a car.
Just then, a black Cadillac drove past him.
The car windows weren't tinted, and Guan Shengbai glanced at them subconsciously, just in time to catch a glimpse of the man's profile in the driver's seat.
The man was wearing a dark blue down jacket, with delicate and refined features. He was holding the steering wheel with one hand, looking straight ahead, seemingly unaware of Guan Shengbai standing by the roadside.
It was none other than Li Yifeng.
Watching the Cadillac drive out of the community gate, merge into the traffic on the East Third Ring Road, and quickly disappear around the corner.
Guan Shengbai looked back at his own residential compound in surprise.
He knew that many celebrities lived in Chaoyang District.
The Jinmao Mansion development is not cheap to begin with, so it's not uncommon for people from the same industry to live in the same complex.
But he really didn't expect that he and Li Yifeng would live in the same community.
Moreover, judging from the direction that Cadillac drove out, the building that Li Yi blocked off was only about two internal roads away from his building.
Guan Shengbai withdrew his gaze, but his mind began to race.
At this stage, Li Yifeng can be considered his biggest potential rival.
He could basically conclude that Yang Mi's mention of "major company moves" must include the launch of the "Gu Jian Qi Tan" project.
The male lead of this drama, Baili Tusu, was later won over by Li Yifeng.
Of course, that happened later.
Li Yifeng is far from being the top of the "Four Great Celebrities" at present.
To be precise, he was at the second-to-last low point of his entire career at this time.
As for last place...
You know everything.
In 2007, Li Yifeng debuted through the talent show "My Hero" and was packaged as one of the so-called "Four Handsome Young Men" along with Jin Boran, Fu Xinbo, and Qiao Renliang.
But despite its impressive name, it's really just so-so.
After the competition, Jin Boran and Fu Xinbo signed with Huayi Brothers, which was at its peak at the time, while Qiao Renliang went to Orange Sky Entertainment, which had abundant financial resources. Only Li Yifeng signed with the record company founded by Haiquan.
That record company wasn't considered a major platform in the industry; it had limited resources and a narrow network of connections.
In the following years, although Li Yifeng released a few songs and acted in a few dramas, his career development remained mediocre, and the gap between him and the other "Three Young Masters" widened.
Until this year, when he finally signed with H&R Century Pictures, he finally boarded a decent ship.
But Huanrui signing him was, frankly speaking, a gamble—signing a few newcomers to try their luck and see if they could find one they could promote.
Later, Li Yifeng became an overnight sensation and a top star. Huanrui was naturally happy to pat themselves on the back, saying that the CEO had a discerning eye and personally approved the casting of him as Baili Tusu.
But actually?
Guan Shengbai is all too familiar with the intricacies of this circle.
Putting aside everything else, Li Yifeng has changed agents five times during the years he was with Huanrui.
The "Ms. L" who joined Huanrui with him at the beginning and accompanied him through his lowest point, was kicked out without even leaving a mark on the industry.
Then came Dong Keyan, Sun Yuxi, Jia Shikai, and finally Yang Jiayin.
As a top star, Li Yifeng changed agents more frequently in just a few years than some actors changed production crews.
What's even more interesting is that in 2015, when he was reaching the peak of his career, the person in charge of his management was named Jia Shikai.
This Jia Shikai is also the agent of another top celebrity, Duan Wang Yang Yang.
As is widely known, Yang Yang is to Jia Shikai what Yang Mi is to Zeng Jia; they are the true foundation of their status as top agents.
A top star at the peak of his career, but his agent is someone else's protégé.
The subtleties involved are well understood by those in the industry.
This turmoil at the agent level directly affects his resource allocation and influence within the company.
In other words, Li Yifeng, the so-called "top dog" of Huanrui, never truly held onto his position...
Just as Guan Shengbai was thinking this, his phone rang.
It was the taxi driver who had left his phone number earlier; he said he had arrived at the destination.
Guan Shengbai looked up and saw a taxi with its hazard lights on.
He quickly gathered his thoughts, opened the car door, sat in the back seat, and gave the address of Huanrui Century's headquarters.
Guan Shengbai had a vague premonition that this trip to Huanrui Century might determine the success or failure of his plan.