Chapter Fifty-Seven: Preparing for Counterattack

  Guo Siyuan's report indeed caused a huge stir in the circle, and he himself also got what he wanted amidst his anxiety, but He Mu was ruined by him.

  In June, the entertainment circle had no big news. The gossip weekly continued to follow up on Wang Fei and Li Yapeng's cleft lip daughter, while "Pork Prince" He Mu also became a hot topic in the entertainment circle.

  Even in the closed set of "Soldier Assault", He Mu still learned about it through Chen Sicheng's assistant on the second day and read Guo Siyuan's report in its entirety. He thought he was still very sophisticated, able to calmly face the absurdities of the entertainment circle, but after reading it, he couldn't help but want to curse, especially the photo of him at 16 years old in the newspaper, at that time he was indeed a bit fat, but not that ugly, people all said he was the most handsome chubby boy in Hengzhong, this photo spread out, don't know how many people will misunderstand him as a manufactured handsome guy.

  "Hey, buddy, what's up? I'm not too satisfied with my chin, can you introduce me to someone?"

  "Get out," He Mu said angrily, "My brother is all natural and organic, without any additives."

  "Come on," Yang Ping said disbelievingly. "You might as well say that the photo isn't even you, that's more believable."

  "Alright," He Mu said helplessly, "I recommend you to go to Korea's Jeju plastic surgery hospital, their technique is top-notch and service is considerate, absolutely a good conscience in the industry." He Mu recited the small advertisement he saw on the utility pole.

  "This is more like it." Yang Wei hung up the phone after chuckling a few more times.

  The second one who came was Liu Shi-shi. Her focus of concern was different from Yang Wei's, "He Mu, your family really raises pigs?"

  "That's right, it's about killing pigs. What, regret making friends with me?" He Mu was driven crazy by this news and his tone was a bit sharp.

  "I didn't," Shi Shi hastily explained, "I really didn't, no matter what your family does, you're my friend, I just wanted to show some concern for you, now the rumors outside are getting fierce..." As she spoke, Shi Shi felt a bit wronged, she had only wanted to ask He Mu if he particularly liked eating pork, and if so, she would accommodate him next time they ate together, but instead she got scolded.

  "Sorry, I wasn't very polite," He Mu sighed, "You don't have to worry about me, the company will take care of it."

  After saying this, He Mu also felt a bit out of breath. As a newcomer to the entertainment industry, he had encountered overwhelming negative news and it was hard for him to say whether his company would protect him, especially since no one had contacted him about the matter yet.

  He Mu thought the company would immediately send someone to contact him, but three days have passed since the news broke out. Neither Da Tang nor Xiao Fang has called him to ask about the authenticity of his report. Instead, the media frenzy has intensified, with many outlets reprinting Guo Siyuan's article and some journalists even visiting He Mu's hometown and alma mater to conduct interviews. As a result, more and more confusing news reports have emerged, making it difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. Some bold reporters even tried to sneak into the set of "Soldier Assault" to interview He Mu in person, but they were ultimately politely asked to leave by the soldiers guarding the filming location.

  These days, He Mu has been diligently filming, but he often gets distracted. The director understands his current situation - after all, he's a newcomer to the entertainment industry and a young man who takes things very seriously. It's his first time facing such large-scale negative reports, so it's inevitable that he'll be preoccupied with thoughts. This is the price of fame; once he gets past this hurdle, no matter what malicious attacks come next, he'll be able to easily withstand them - that's growth.

  Apart from Kang Dao's tolerance, He Mu is more grateful for his girlfriend's thoughtfulness. The incident has been going on for so long and the impact is quite wide, Zhang Zilin can't be unaware of it, but every time she calls, she won't mention anything about it, even deliberately avoiding it. She, who is not good at expressing herself in words, even takes the initiative to tell jokes to amuse He Mu, which was something He Mu used to do before.

  Even for the sake of Zi Lin's good intentions, even for her not-so-funny jokes, He Mu had no reason to continue being downhearted. At worst, he could do something else later, what's the big deal? But for now, he just needed to finish filming this play, he had invested a lot of heart and soul into it, and his colleagues in the crew had also paid a lot for it, they absolutely couldn't fall apart at the last moment.

  A week later, "Soldiers Sortie" finally reached its final moment. In the last episode, after bidding farewell to Gaocheng (played by Zhang Guoqiang), Yuan Lang (played by Duan Yihong), Wu Zhe (played by He Mu), and Cheng Cai (played by Chen Sicheng) took the injured Xu Sanduo (played by Wang Baoqiang) on a wooden boat drifting on the calm waves (long shot).

  The director yelled "cut", and He Mu, holding a pole, took three brothers to drift on the lake for more than an hour. By the time they reached the shore, the staff had cleaned up the scene, and the director's camera lens was also sealed, marking the official end of filming.

  The wrap-up dinner was as low-key as the press conference, and all the crew members and actors who had followed to the end had a farewell dinner at a nearby hotel. The filming team of "Soldier Sortie" was disbanded.

  It was on the night of wrapping up "Soldiers Sortie" that Xiao Fang made a phone call to He Mu.

  "How have you been these past few days?" Xiao Fang asked, seemingly without a care.

  "It's okay," He Mu's mentality had also calmed down, "Anyway, if I can't make it in the entertainment industry, it'll be your loss, boss." What He Mu gained from Hu Lang far exceeded what he paid for.

  "No wonder you're so calm, it's been so long and you didn't even call to ask about me, humph." Xiao Fang said.

  "Hey," hearing Xiao Fang's tone, He Mu knew that this time would definitely be a surprise without danger. "Brother Fang, what do I need to do next?" He believed that the veteran entertainment circle old fox Da Tang had already arranged everything for him.

  "First listen to two pieces of news from me," Xiao Fang said with a smile, "one good and one bad."

  "Let's hear the bad news first." He Mu liked bitter before sweet.

  "The bad news is that the investors of 'The Deer and the Cauldron' are not very satisfied with you playing Emperor Kangxi, they already have a new candidate, it will be announced soon." Xiao Fang said without any emotional tone, but He Mu could tell he was quite displeased.

  "Is it because of this time?" He Mu asked.

  Xiao Fang nodded, "This is the main reason, and there are some other factors. In short, this role is no longer yours." Xiao Fang still had a bit of resentment when he said this. Unexpectedly, just as He Wu's negative news came out, Zhang Jiming called to say that He Wu's image was no longer suitable for Emperor Kangxi, and if they continued to let him act, it would really become "From Pork Chop Prince to Emperor Kangxi", which would be a joke for the entire crew. Although Zhang Jiming kept saying this was the investor's intention, Xiao Fang had already attributed this incident to Zhang's account.

  "Should I say sorry?" He Mu didn't think this incident would affect the important role he had worked hard to get for the company, although he felt it wasn't his fault, but he still felt a little guilty.

  Xiao Fang said with a big smile: "Considering your good attitude towards admitting your mistake, I'll invite you to have a drink when we get back."

  "Just say the good news." He Mu was speechless.

  Xiao Fang cleared his throat and said, "The good news is that the company has decided to tailor-make a TV series for you, and invite a first-line actress in China to co-star with you. You need to be well-prepared, this time you're playing the male lead."

  He Mu fell silent for a long time, and it wasn't until Xiao Fang's "Hey" that he spoke up again: "You're not fooling me, are you? I feel like this is all so unreal."

  "Can I cheat you into making money?" Xiao Fang said with a "切" sound, "With your current controversy, letting you take the lead as the male lead won't worry about media attention, and for the female lead we will invite a big shot to guarantee ratings, this deal is worth it."

  "When is this play going to be filmed? Should I go back now?" He Mu asked anxiously.

  "No rush, no rush," Xiao Fang said leisurely. "The script isn't even ready yet, and the female lead hasn't been chosen. The top priority right now is to turn around the negative media reports about you and establish a positive image."

  "What should I do?"

  "Xiao Mu Zi, you're a lucky kid to have such a good friend," Xiao Fang said with emotion. "Your friend Li Wen Hua, who runs the publishing company, sent over a stack of photos the day after the incident, and they completely prove that you didn't get plastic surgery."

  When Xiao Fang said that, He Mu's heart warmed up. He didn't expect Li Wen Hua to still keep those photos, it was really unexpected and touching.

  If He Mu didn't guess wrong, those photos should be his record from the beginning of deciding to lose weight to successfully losing weight, a total of two months, and the photographer is Li Wen Hua.

  He Mu's figure has always been relatively flexible. At the age of three or four, he was a little fat boy who loved to eat and sleep. After starting school, his grandfather also began teaching him martial arts, which gradually transformed into a standard figure. However, after entering junior high school and leaving his grandfather's supervision, He Mu's martial arts skills slackened, and his weight slowly increased. During the summer vacation after graduating from junior high school, he reached his peak weight of 89 kilograms. Although his face was still handsome, his figure had become like a potato.

  When he went to high school, He Mu began to have a vague crush on a girl in the class and started controlling his diet. Until the second year of high school, he finally couldn't bear his weight anymore and came up with a slogan to eliminate fat in a short time. For this reason, he also pulled Li Wen Hua, who was also chubby, but Li Wen Hua was very satisfied with his figure and had no intention of changing the status quo. However, for the sake of his buddy's weight loss career, Li Wen Hua offered to take photos of He Mu, recording the entire process of his weight loss, hoping that these slowly thinning photos could motivate him to persist until the end.

  So there were those photos taken every day, each with the date and weight on the back, all done by Li Wen Hua. In sixty days, He Mu lost nearly fifty pounds and became a school idol after successfully losing weight. This must be attributed to Li Wen Hua's credit. What is most precious is that he kept those photos and found them out to give to Xiao Fang at the first time when He Mu got into trouble, without even telling him a word.

  He murmured in his heart: My good brother!

  (ps: Thanks to Jin Yi Wei for the second reward, Tong Zhi brother has become the first disciple of this book, thanks for your support, you are also my good brother ~~ I had something outside this morning, so I finished updating, but the second update won't be less, just a bit late, sorry, sorry ~~)

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