Chapter One: Unfulfilled Ambition

  By the end of August, the sun is like a naked woman, fully exposed.

  Wulanbutong is the last outdoor scene of the Kangxi dynasty, and there are a few more scattered ones, but Lin Xiao has nothing to do with it. His part is mainly in the Prime Minister's mansion, Wulanbutong has fewer scenes, but they are the two most difficult to play, and the remaining horizontal store has several scenes that can be supplemented after others have finished filming.

  And his part in this play, will have to wait until the end of September, almost the last play of Ulanbutong. After finishing filming, his schedule is completely empty, just waiting for Kangxi Dynasty to finish work, promote and release.

  On August 28th, CAMI called and said that the passport was all set and he would be flying to Taiwan soon. Let him come back for a trip immediately.

  His mood was a bit excited, he had never participated in such a high-profile ceremony before. The Golden Horse Awards in China is like the Oscars in the United States.

  He told the crew and then returned to Beijing.

  When he landed at the airport, CAMI and Li Hao were already waiting there.

  "Brother Xiao!" Li Hao saw him coming down and went up to punch him heavily.

  "It's gotten more solid." Lin Xiao said with a smile.

  Li Hao nodded vigorously upon hearing this sentence "You have no idea about outdoor programs, I host sports ones and almost got myself killed from exhaustion!"

  "If you don't host this show, can you get Yang Lan's appreciation?" CAMI said.

  "Yang Lan? That's the variety show big sister! " Lin Xiao looked at each other in surprise, "I didn't expect that you're quite lucky, I heard you're still filming TV?"

  "It's just an idol drama."

  "Alright, let's catch up slowly and leave some time to talk. We have a plane ticket for tomorrow noon, but we have more important things to do now." CAMI hailed a car and invited them to get in.

  The car started and headed straight for Wangfujing.

  "Director Chu wants me to tell you all that you've done a good job. However, I'm not very satisfied."

  Cami looked at the two of them with great dissatisfaction and said "What about the scandal we agreed on? Can't you guys even add some sensational details?"

  "She pointed at Lin Xiao, 'You're not bad, there aren't many scandals in TV dramas, but can't you just have some entanglement with a certain actress or actor?! How am I supposed to give you guys publicity?! Both parties of the scandal are willing, don't you have a red-skirted confidante over there?!'"

  "Cami sister, you know I don't like this." Lin Xiao took out a stick of rock candy and started eating "It's been a long time since I've tasted this flavor, it's still my favorite apple flavor."

  "Sister Cami, don't blame Xiao Ge anymore, when you came back, you told me that all the pigs over there are male."

  "And you!" CAMI immediately shifted the target of attack "Lin Xiao is fine, but what about you?! In an idol drama group! You don't even know how to seize the advantage! Is your face for eating?! Idol dramas are shot quickly, no acting skills are needed. If you don't seize the opportunity, I'll have the magazine 'force' you!"

  Fierce! Lin Xiao and Li Hao exchanged a glance, then lowered their heads and stopped talking.

  "In short, before the crew wraps up, we need to get some news out. I've heard that Chen Jia Lin's crew is completely closed off, no reporters allowed in, but you can leak something yourself. This time when you return from Taiwan, I'll assign a reporter to be your assistant and dig up something. If nothing comes out, your salary will be cut in half this month."

  Li Hao looked at Lin Xiao with a sorrowful and sympathetic gaze, but before he could even retract his gaze, CAMI suddenly shouted "You! If you can't come up with more than three scandals, don't think about getting paid! Gender and ethnicity are not limited!"

  "...Sister Cami, you're really open-minded..."

  Just then, the car stopped, and Li Hao looked at the mall in front of him and excitedly asked "Sister Cami, are you going to send us something?"

  "Of course." CAMI smiled and nodded "It's impossible."

  The two of them shrugged their shoulders.

  "Do you know what the Starlight Avenue - Golden Horse Red Carpet Show represents?" CAMI swam like a fish in the shopping mall with the two of them.

  "I don't know."

  "Representing... Ah! The latest Dior - Forget-me-not!" In the blink of an eye, CAMI was gone, and in the next second, she had burst into a full-body universe in front of the Dior counter, eagerly trying out a pale green bottle of perfume.

  It wasn't until twenty minutes later that she returned with a satisfied look on her face, "Where was I just now?"

  "......Golden Horse Red Carpet Show......"

  "Oh, right." CAMI didn't show any embarrassment at all, clearing his throat "Yongle not only has a big family business domestically but also has many industries in surrounding countries. Taiwan Province is even more of a focus. With the WTO accession on the agenda, work in Taiwan will only become heavier. In fact, many good teams have gone to Taiwan, such as the team from Wuhan's 'Hanjing Above' luxury mansion and so on."

  "Not many Taiwanese artists don't know Yongle, and as artists under Yongle's successor company, if you dress too shabbily, it's not just me who will lose face, even Director Chu will lose face. At the Golden Horse Awards, either you're a superstar or a veteran actor. And this time, I'm mainly taking you to meet someone, and also to broaden your horizons."

  "Cami sister, to put it bluntly, you still have to give us clothes." Li Hao said with a smile.

  "What a beautiful thought!" CAMI took a deep breath and continued, "The clothes are borrowed, it's Chu's face that allowed us to borrow them from here. And even if Chu had made an appearance, we wouldn't have been able to get them from the flagship store. But it's okay, after all, this is the latest model, which hasn't been released yet."

  "Why bother? Just wear the cheap stuff!" Li Hao said in confusion "Why waste money."

  "Are you crazy?!" CAMI looked at him like a monster, but before she could explain, Lin Xiao spoke up.

  "There are two major taboos in this kind of ceremony, which every star will follow. The first is that you can't wear counterfeit or A-goods. If you're not caught, it's okay, but once you're exposed, the brand will immediately put you on its blacklist, and as a public enemy of the entire fashion industry, don't think that stars and the fashion industry are unrelated, they are actually closely connected. The consequence of doing so is that in the future, you will never get sponsorship from any top-level brand again."

  "How did you know?!" CAMI looked at Lin Xiao in surprise, nodding in agreement, and said to Li Hao "Remember, even if you don't have any more money, you must wear authentic goods. Do you think being a star is easy? Haven't you seen first-line stars owing debts?! Except for street shooting, wearing clothes that don't match your worth in public, driving cars that don't match your status, that's just asking for death!"

  Li Hao nodded and asked with relish, "What else? Is there anything else?"

  "The second one is to wear the same clothes. Lin Xiao continued, "This is a way of hurting eight hundred and losing one thousand. So when borrowing clothes, it must be an unreleased style, otherwise even if they are similar clothes, it will cause the two artists to unknowingly bear a grudge."

  Cami asked curiously, "How did you know these unwritten rules? Logically speaking, it's impossible to know them without having mixed for a few years and participated in large-scale ceremonies!"

  Lin Xiao smiled wryly, he couldn't tell his opponent that the last time he participated in various awards ceremonies was just to be a "foil".

  "Since you're so clever, guess which brand of clothes I lent you?"

  "Louis Vuitton, LV?" Li Hao's eyes sparkled and turned into a small star.

  This time, even Lin Xiao couldn't help but laugh. "How could it be LV? Their clothes aren't the most famous, and we're not women, so we don't need to carry handbags. I'm guessing, it must be Giorgio Armani."

  "That's right." CAMI gave a thumbs up "There's an old saying in Hollywood, when you don't know what suit to wear, Armani is your best choice."

  She had already stopped in front of her, making a please gesture, and right before her was "GIIO ARMANI."

  There aren't many people here, but every single one of them is dressed to the nines. Even the beautiful woman standing by the door with a man looking at clothes has a Cartier chain on her wrist.

  Looking at these three people with a style completely different from that of the store coming in, the staff still asked enthusiastically "Do you need service?"

  "It's okay, I have an appointment with your manager." CAMI handed over his business card.

  The staff took over and rushed in to make a phone call. Before long, they brought out several bags.

  "This is the clothes you ordered, please keep it well."

  Lin Xiao and the other two took over, and the three of them didn't say much more before they went out the door.

  "Unfortunately, they didn't come all the way here just to ask us for sponsorship." He said regretfully. "We still have to go there ourselves to get it."

  "You think too much." CAMI said indifferently, "Unless it's a top star, why would these high-end brands care about an artist? There are people lining up to ask them for clothes. If he weren't the son of Chu Tianyi, even the manager of this boutique wouldn't be able to get his hands on their clothes. This city is full of hidden dragons and tigers, officials and nobles. You could knock out a few department heads with just one brick."

  "Do you want others to beg you to wear clothes? Work hard," she encouraged. "Eventually, you will have the chance to choose what to wear."

  Returning to the dormitory that had not been returned for a long time, Lin Xiao let out a long sigh as soon as he entered the door.

  "I had imagined what a mess things would be without me here, but I never thought it would be this bad."

  He looked at the instant noodle buckets on the table, Li Hao was still very artistic and piled up five of them, then his gaze turned to the wall, where there was a large pile of discarded paper and unknown things.

  "Are you sure there's no mouse here?"

  "Uh... I'll go throw it away now." Li Hao hastily took the thing out to discard it. Lin Xiao looked around and fortunately, the living area hadn't been contaminated yet.

  At night, the two of them had a small gathering and Lin Xiao rarely drank two cups. Suddenly remembered something.

  "Li Hao, when you return to Taiwan, are you interested in accompanying me to meet someone?"

  "Who?"

  "Huang Bo, Beipiao."

  "Go."

  The two lay on their own beds and chatted for a while, when they heard Lin Xiao's "thrilling" experience in Ulan Bator, Li Hao also exclaimed.

  "I really didn't expect there would be so many unspeakable things in this circle."

  "This is already unbearable?" Lin Xiao laughed "These are just trivial matters, when you become more famous, the darker things you'll encounter will be even more frightening. Compared to now, a few newcomers looking down on you and trying to sabotage you is much scarier."

  "Is it that dark?"

  Lin Xiao didn't say a word, he had personally seen second-tier actors being forced to go to a big shot's room with a knife to their back. He had also seen many female artists cry themselves to collapse after accompanying someone for drinks.

  He hasn't encountered these things yet, because he's still too young and nobody pays attention to him. Not to mention second-tier stars, even first-tier stars will encounter such experiences, won't they? Just wait to be banned or frozen out.

  "Li Hao, if you can't hold on, then quit." He said thoughtfully, "This path, if you don't reach the top, it's much more tiring than you think, smiling in front of people and crying behind them, I've seen a lot."

  Neither of them spoke again. In the unknown atmosphere, the excitement of going to Taiwan slowly faded away. After a while, both of them fell asleep.