Chapter 64 Who is "Mo Wen"?

Chapter 64 Who is "Mo Wen"?

"Brother Ping, are you going to play the male second lead in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer?"

"The company seems to have said so."

"Gosh, that is epic!"

"It's alright, I'll be playing Lin Pingzhi, a character that isn't very likable."

"Likeable or not, this character gets plenty of screen time. Brother Ping, you're practically my idol."

After studying the original novel together, Lin Guan5en and Aliya had just returned to the company from out of town. Upon hearing that Chen Ping had secured a male second lead role, the two of them were so excited they almost jumped up.

Aliya joked, "Chen Ping, please keep me as your kept woman."

"Keep you?"

Chen Ping glanced briefly at Aliya's chest and remained silent.

Aliya instantly went berserk: "I'm going to bite you to death!"

This was rather awkward. Although Aliya was quite attractive, her flat chest had always been a sensitive and depressing point for her.

"I didn't say anything at all."

Chen Ping spread his hands, looking completely innocent.

However, Aliya wouldn't let it go. She grabbed a throw pillow from the sofa and started pelting Chen Ping with it.

"May I ask you guys, what's all the excitement about?"

Just as they were playing around, Wu Yu walked in.

"Sister Wu, Chen Ping called me a flat-chested airport."

Aliya turned to Wu Yu for help.

Wu Yu was both exasperated and amused: "Chen Ping, that wasn't very nice of you."

"Sister Wu Yu, I really didn't say anything."

"Alright, alright, stop messing around..."

Wu Yu whispered quietly into Aliya's ear, "It's fine, just go find a boyfriend later and everything will be solved."

Aliya's face flushed instantly: "Sister Wu, don't corrupt me."

With that, Aliya scurried back to her room, thoroughly embarrassed.

...

"Here are your plane tickets to Xiangjiang."

Calling Chen Ping outside, Wu Yu handed him a flight ticket. Then, looking back at the apartment, she said, "I almost forgot, the three of you sharing one apartment is a bit cramped. I'll have you moved to a new place tomorrow."

"It's fine. Having Xiao Linzi and the others around is quite lively. Being by myself would actually be a bit boring."

"You'd have to move sooner or later anyway. You can't keep living with them after you become a big star, can you? Besides, look at right now—it's not very convenient to discuss things with you; I have to call you outside. Furthermore, if Xiao Linzi and Aliya develop well in the future, they'll move out too. Since you're good friends, you can still visit each other often even if you don't live together."

"That works too."

Since Wu Yu put it that way, Chen Ping didn't refuse. What she said made sense; although the apartment had enough space, having multiple people crammed into one place did make certain things rather inconvenient.

"I'm doing this for your own good. Besides, what if you happen to find a girlfriend in the future?"

"I..."

Chen Ping felt a bit awkward. How could he not understand what Wu Yu was implying? "Sister Wu Yu, doesn't the company have any rules regarding the romantic lives of its actors?"

"What kind of rules would you want?"

Wu Yu rolled her eyes. "What era is this? You think the company is as meddlesome as before? The management doesn't have the spare time for that. Besides, you're not walking the idol route; the company doesn't restrict the private romances of its actors. In fact, you're even free to get married if you want."

"Put that way, I suppose it's genuinely worth considering."

Chen Ping rubbed his chin, pretending to look around as if scouting for beauties.

Wu Yu adopted the tone of a seasoned veteran and said, "Stop acting. One look at you and I know you wouldn't even dare make a move."

"Please don't understand me that thoroughly."

Chen Ping felt utterly helpless.

"Let's talk about business."

After a few lighthearted jokes, Wu Yu asked, "How many lyrics did you write for Luo Man?"

"Two."

"Is the lyricist Mo Wen you?"

"Yes."

Chen Ping nodded. Although he hadn't mentioned it to the company, since Wu Yu had already guessed it, he didn't feel the need to hide it.

"You guy, why use a pen name instead of your own?"

"Writing lyrics is just a side gig; I still prefer acting."

"You certainly are devoted."

Wu Yu didn't pursue the matter further and continued, "After you return from the Xiangjiang Golden Melody Awards, you won't need to come back to the company. Go straight to the crew of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer. I'll be heading there too."

"No auditions?"

"What auditions? Didn't I tell you you're playing the male second lead?"

"Oh."

Chen Ping nodded. This was what they called an internal casting—being pre-selected. Auditions were only for projects where sufficient resources weren't guaranteed. This reminded Chen Ping of when he participated in Actors, Please Take Your Place, where Min Dao mentioned he had been acting for 15 years and had never once auditioned. Most of the time, his roles were directly arranged by his agency.

"Does that mean I can be pre-selected as the male first lead in the future?"

Chen Ping felt a flicker of anticipation.

"Of course the male first lead can be pre-selected too. However, the difference between a male lead and a male second lead is far more than just the role itself. The resources, connections, and funding involved are vastly greater than those for a second lead."

"Understood."

The entertainment industry was far more complicated than one might imagine. Chen Ping wasn't someone with unrealistic ambitions; for now, his priority was to play "Lin Pingzhi" well.

The next day.

Chen Ping boarded a flight to Xiangjiang. However, he chose economy class. It wasn't that he couldn't afford first class. Firstly, Chen Ping felt it was unnecessary; secondly, not many people recognized him yet. Although Chen Ping had experienced a wave of popularity because of the show Actors, Please Take Your Place, that kind of fame was merely a sudden, explosive flash in the pan. This kind of hype couldn't last.

A few days later, Chen Ping's popularity had already faded. This was directly reflected in his follower count on TikTok. Originally, Chen Ping's follower count had broken through 3 million. Yet, a dozen days later, it had dropped to just over 1 million. A massive wave of followers had unfollowed him.

As for why they unfollowed—that was completely normal. They had followed Chen Ping on a whim during the heat of the moment. Once the trend passed, there was no way they would become his hardcore fans. It was just like "Ding Zhen" from his past life: when he was popular, the whole country knew him, and everyone followed him. After a period of time, people felt that following Ding Zhen back then had been a bit impulsive, failing to see any enduring appeal, and so they unfollowed him.

Of course, Chen Ping didn't mind. He took these matters rather lightly. Compared to many other actors, Chen Ping was already much luckier. He knew very well that if you want the audience to truly notice you, you must have a role that they can genuinely remember. His previous role as Chao Xiaoshu couldn't achieve that; his subsequent portrayal of Yang Guo was merely a fleeting glimpse that people would forget after watching. As for Han Xin in Legend of Chu and Han, it was slightly better, but even that role wasn't quite enough to fully carry him yet.

...

Without overthinking it, one hour later, Chen Ping landed smoothly. However, at the airport exit, Chen Ping unexpectedly spotted Luo Man. Although Luo Man was wearing a face mask, she was still recognized by a crowd of media reporters.

"Luo Man, look, it's Luo Man!"

"Luo Man, we love your songs Mortal World and So Young. Do you have anything to say for this year's Golden Melody Awards?"

"Luo Man, who do you think will win the Song of the Year award?"

"Luo Man, could you tell us who the lyricist [Mo Wen] actually is?"

Dozens of microphones were thrust toward Luo Man as a crowd of reporters swarmed her tightly.

Chen Ping only glanced at her without greeting her, hailed a taxi, and headed straight to the hotel where the attendees of the Xiangjiang Golden Melody Awards were staying.