Chapter 67: Xiao He Wants to Be an Investor?

[Xiao He’s livestream got banned]

[Xiao He promoted gore and violence]

[Xiao He’s livestream recreated Zhu Third Brother]

On the same day Xiao He’s livestream was banned, he also shot up the trending searches.

Looking at those entries, Xiao He couldn’t help but be amused.

People online really had too much time on their hands these days.

Was this simple matter really worth trending?

Although Xiao He could roughly guess that behind this trending topic were the production team and Sister Liu fanning the flames,—

he really didn’t like hearing it!

Look at what they were saying! They made it sound like he’d murdered someone on livestream.

But the world’s joys and sorrows aren’t the same for everyone — netizens who saw the trending topic online were cracking up.

[Hahaha, I was there in person, I saw him smile at us, and then he got banned.]

[Ah, so that’s what got him banned?]

[Laughing to death, I thought he livestreamed a homicide, and you tell me he just smiled once.]

[Xiao Ge smiles and life and death are unpredictable. Don’t believe me? Here’s the screenshot from back then. [screenshot.jpg]]

[Holy— at first glance I thought it was a ghost pic, but it’s actually Xiao Ge? That makeup is insane, and that smile… I can only say Xiao Ge’s ban was deserved. If I were the moderator I’d be startled out of my skin too.]

[This special effects makeup artist is seriously amazing. I remember her name is Feng Songyue. She won an international special effects makeup creativity award, worked on special effects makeup designs for several large foreign production teams, and even did stage makeup for some big names overseas. She’s one very impressive makeup artist. No wonder she could reproduce Xiao Ge as Zhu Third Brother one hundred percent—this was real skill.]

[Oh my god, the makeup artist who did Xiao Ge is that awesome of a beauty?]

[If you’re interested you can just search her. What the original poster said earlier is only part of her impressive resume.]

[Okay, don’t say more, I’m already feeling inferior.]

Watching the topic veer off like that, Xiao He felt an unexpected sense of relief, then clicked open the screenshots fans had grabbed for him — and was startled.

The man in the image was ugly: acne fused together like pus-filled boils, varying sizes, pits across the cheeks and nose, the whole face looked like a fermentation-bloated steamed bun, puffed up.

On a face that already looked scrappy, there was a cold, vile smile so utterly sinister that it seemed to stare through the screen at the viewers beyond it.

Not only did the other audience react, Xiao He himself was thunderstruck.

Holy crap, no wonder. The moderators tolerated that face, but with that smile—who wouldn’t ban you! If the moderators hadn’t reported it directly to the police, Xiao He would have been amazed by their tolerance.

Thinking it over, so that this image wouldn’t become future black history for him, Xiao He moved his fingers and had most of the “ghost pics” circulating online harmonized away.

Even if other netizens tried to open or save them, they’d find the image was already 404.

Under these circumstances, people would just assume the image was too frightening and the web safety system flagged and auto-removed it, not that Xiao He himself had pulled strings.

Sure enough, within minutes someone noticed the situation, but everyone was laughing — no one suspected anything.

Xiao He: …kids suffer in silence, but kids don’t say a word.

In the end even Liu Rulan called, asking Xiao He to make time the next day to come by their current studio to shoot a set of photos for business use.

“You need to separate your image clearly from Zhu Third Brother. Zhu Third Brother is Zhu Third Brother; you are you. The boundary between the two must be clear,” Liu Rulan said seriously. “If you stay tied to that image, your future development will be seriously hindered.”

Xiao He asked earnestly, “They aren’t going to invite me and always bring Feng Jie along too, are they? Then Feng Jie and I might as well become a duo.”

A lot of people only realized after leaving the theater that Xiao He had played Zhu Third Brother; that shows their minds naturally reject equating Xiao He’s face with Zhu Third Brother’s face. It was mainly the meme packs online that caused the illusion that Xiao He’s appearance equaled Zhu Third Brother’s appearance.

That illusion would be quickly buried once Xiao He produced new work.

Liu Rulan: “...Don’t derail the topic.”

Xiao He: “Okay, Sister Liu, you go ahead.”

Liu Rulan cleared her throat and continued, “Our studio has just finished renovation, so we want to take several sets of photos to keep on file. That way it’s convenient when we pitch for fashion or commercial resources later.”

After all, when submitting a portfolio, you can’t just show a headshot, right?

Xiao He had decent looks and a good figure; Liu Rulan planned to help him fight for fashion resources.

Photos were naturally indispensable.

Xiao He: “I understand.”

Then he thought for a moment and, unusually, asked about the studio’s situation: “Sister Liu, did you invest in the studio alone, or do you have partners?”

Liu Rulan sounded surprised: “Why did you suddenly think to ask this?”

“Just asking,” he replied casually.

“You’re right, I should tell you some details.”

Liu Rulan’s tone turned calm. “The studio was indeed invested and founded by me personally. If you work hard to make money, I expect I can break even within two years.”

Xiao He: “...Sister Liu, are you that well-off?”

Liu Rulan chuckled lightly. “Although I’ve resigned from Jiaxing Entertainment, back then I was one of the employees who helped build it up. I still have some shares.”

And naturally, some shareholders at Jiaxing Entertainment wouldn’t refuse to buy back the shares Liu Rulan held.

Xiao He gaped: “But Jiaxing Entertainment is huge—Sister Liu, you have real guts.”

Jiaxing Entertainment was one of the largest star-making factories in the country, with massive annual income. Even if you did nothing and were just a small shareholder, the yearly dividends would be considerable.

Frankly, Liu Rulan had basically sold her future pension!

Liu Rulan didn’t care much. “Money can be earned. If I hadn’t sold these shares, I wouldn’t have been able to leave Jiaxing easily.”

Otherwise, why would Jiaxing let her go so readily? They even let her take her team with her.

That all came at a price.

Xiao He thought for a moment and asked, “Sister Liu, are you still looking for investors?”

“We are, definitely, but not that urgently. After all, right now you’re the only artist here.”

“What do you think of me investing?”

Liu Rulan snorted a laugh, teasing: “What, you want to be my boss? That would take more than a few million—”

“Five million. Is that okay?”

Liu Rulan’s words caught in her throat.

The woman on the phone fell silent for a long moment before asking, “Xiao He, I think you’re usually well-behaved. You haven’t secretly robbed a bank or gone gambling, have you?”

Xiao He was speechless: “...Sister Liu, you wound me. We’ve known each other for so long and you don’t trust me at all.”

“Precisely because I know you, I don’t totally trust you.”

Liu Rulan said earnestly, “After all, I haven’t heard your family hit the jackpot on a lottery.”

Xiao He: “...”

Damn it, can’t it be money he earned? For one thing, he was now at least a member of the 2.08 million club!

—Wait, hold on. Since when did Sister Liu have contact info for his parents?!